Aranya Nivas

Aranya Nivas in Thekkady is a clean and well-maintained hotel with satisfactory food quality. However, it's important to note that there is a strict check-in time restriction, requiring guests to arrive before 5:00 PM. I love the climate in Thekkady

Beautiful location Good Buffet Very near to boat riding point Ample car parking Quit place..far from the town Nice behaved staffs..always eager to help you Beer and wine parlour is good You can't go to the town after 5.30 pm as the forest gate are closed so no evening activities. Good Wifi Front desk people's are helpful.

- Looks good from front and communal areas are impressive giving the feel of a lodge ⁃ Check in was fairly quick and simple ⁃ Lunch was good and they had a small offering of westernised food ⁃ Our room (115) did not match the expectations set by what you see when you first walk into the hotel. Bedroom fairly compact and basic, Bathroom a good size but shower was not fully enclosed and there was a 1-2cm gap in one of the panels where the glass had moved. Subsequently, the floor got very wet. No hand towels and the water that had collected in the bucket had an orange tinge to it ! ⁃ Our room is very warm. Understandably you can’t open the windows because of the monkeys. There was a ceiling fan which was not just noisy but ineffective! The rooms need air conditioning! ⁃ Tiny bar . We were a group of 30 and it couldn’t handle half of that number. We asked if we could take our drinks into the restaurant and were told no, only to our rooms. Understandably, you cannot drink outside because of the monkeys so you would think they’d have a larger bar area! ⁃ Drink options were limited. There was a menu but a fellow traveller said that there was no white or rosé wine. The ‘local’ kingfisher soon ran out too. Bar staff were mostly attentive and did stay open longer to accommodate us. ⁃ Water in the room was in a glass bottle with a grolsch style cap which concerned us that it want drinkable. We had to ask to find out that this was mineral water due to their eco status. Why not inform guests by putting a label in the room? ⁃ Bar closes at 9pm, but staff did extend this. ⁃ Evening meal was very poor. Very limited choice and tepid ⁃ Hotel did inform us that they were feeding porcupines around 21:20 and we went outside to watch. This was a positive. ⁃ Nobody informed us of login details for Wi-Fi when we checked in. We had to ask and when we were finally able to connect we discovered that it was shockingly slow and unreliable. ⁃ Breakfast - It took several attempts to get black tea/coffee and the toast was inedible. Omelettes were tepid. The worst breakfast I’d had . Seem to run out of cups and this angered many guests. Our guide told us that it was because they’re not use to having large groups (we were a group of 30) but contradicted this by saying they’d booked this a long time ago.

This is one of the three properties operated by KTDC inside the park. The main attraction is the location which is well inside the park and a short walk from the boat landing. Rooms were good and well maintained. However, there is no AC, which is a definite negative point. There is a restaurant, a beer bar and car parking. Food was quite good. Tea/coffee maker is provided in the rooms and breakfast is complimentary. The staff is friendly and helpful. We did see animals like deer and a porcupine just behind the hotel. Rooms are expensive and not really great value for money. The absence of AC could be an irritation in warm weather

Sadly, the facilities in the hotel are dated and in need of a significant refresh. It's a pity because the location is excellent at Lake Periyar within the National Park which allows hotel guests to avoid all the queues for the boat trip around the lake.

Staying here was a last minute plan due to the location, so we didn't expect much else. It does not disappoint on that front. Most activities in the park start right outside and you have the leisure of going on morning walks or cycle rides in the public areas. But you can't shake off the feeling of how much better it all can be. We had a suite room, which was way better than the standard ones but still felt very dated. While the property is advertised as a premium hotel, there is no polish in the ambience and facilities. The pool was clean but the recliners and benches all around, not so much, and the shower, not at all. It took an eternity for pool towels to arrive. The treatments at the ayurveda centre were nice, but the place itself felt like a forgotten back room. The food was just blah! Edible in large parts but nothing exciting. The staff tried their level best but they're just trying to make the most of a well-intended but lacklustre property. Important: Remember that you're in the forest. After sundown. The gates are securely locked and you must not step outside.

A poorly maintained hotel despite its iconic location. Everything there is a mount's walk - hikes, boating, etc. The infrastructure is dated (termite damage, musty odor, and mold) and the friendly and helpful staff do their best to cater to travelers despite this. Hats off to the workers there. You are stuck with the food choices since there is no other option. The bar is stuck in the 80s in all its glory - go in if you are nostalgic about bars from that era! The Jungle walk with the park rangers (Thank you Nandu!) was a memorable experience.

Property needs better maintenance of facilities it’s restaurant offers very little quantity and highly overpriced. It’s best suited for smooth boat ride on Periyar lake. Tribal dance programme was very interesting and facilitated by forest department.

Stayed for two nights in May 2023 (18th to 20th May) with mother while on a leisure break in a Jungle view room. Room was compact, bit dated in terms of the woodwork, needs a lot of care to be done, for it to sustain, its slowly cracking. Got good sleep & good views to the Jungle valley, happened to some wildlife like the jungle squirrel, and few birds, from the room. Food options in the in-house restaurant were decent given the constraints within the forest area. Still rating it good because of the overall experience. It would be good if the KTDC management do a bit better in terms of the upkeep of the rooms, the wood work is tearing up, i had one plug point just came off, & i could not use it the entire stay.